Can't Go Back
by Ben Skywalker
Summary: Sequel to Burgers, Love and Addiction. Life isn't always easy. But when you add in family, real life, and saving the world, it gets infinitly more complex. SLASH RockyAdam
1. Why Didn't We Start Dating Before?

Hello People!

Wow, it took forever, but here it is. The third part. And guess what! It's gonna be more than one chapter! Yay! Anyways, once I got started, everything fell into place and since I love writing… Yeah, so more than one part here.

Anyway, the little snippet on song lyrics are from Phil Vassar's _Last Day of My Life_. I know that song wasn't around in the 90s, but… Creative license. But if it irks you… I'm sorry.

Yes, there is slash. You have been warned. And no. The characters don't belong to me. If they did, I wouldn't be worried about getting a scholarship when I go to college. Only Rocky's family belongs to me… I think… Any similarity to anyone, either living or dead, is purely coincidental… Sorry. Couldn't help myself. And no one was harmed in the making of this fanfiction… Okay, I'm done now.

And thank you soooooo much for all of you that reviewed That Incident Back Sophomore Year and Burgers, Love, and Addiction. I seriously love all of you guys! XRachX, Sparxxa, MzDany, CamFan4Ever, Nomadff7, Bridge Tate, CrimsonStorms, LOSTrocker, Feline-Feral, Melly, PinkStranger, Psycho Tangerine, Sreym, Yuri Ameno, PunkPinkPower, Lttlelola, Jessie13, Burnsy, DallysNYChick, and SpookyandLumpy… You people all just seriously made my day.

Soooooo… On to the first chapter!

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**Can't Go Back**

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**Chapter 1**

**Why Didn't We Start Dating Before…?**

Rocky sat at Ernie's Juice Bar, back against the table he was at as he straddled the chair. As he watched the door, he rested his chin on his crossed arms and sighed quietly. Part of him was aware of the ache in his lower back where the edge pressed in close to where he'd broken the bone. It wasn't enough to make him move. But he was aware of it. Besides, after being in the hospital for as long as he had, just sitting there – despite the pain – was a welcome change.

Momentarily taking his eyes off the entrance to the Juice Bar and Gym, Rocky glanced over at the clock. Four-fifty. It was official. Adam was late.

It wasn't like he was worried… at least not in the traditional sense of a boyfriend. That Adam could be standing him up or anything even vaguely of that nature was absurd. He knew Adam too well to even entertain the notion. Adam wouldn't do that to him. Not _his_ Adam. Unfortunately, the other number of far more likely possibilities had occurred to him and he was struggling not to let his imagination run completely wild. He really didn't want to think about a number of those possibilities.

The problem was that those possibilities had become disturbingly clear to him within the last couple of days. When he had been a ranger himself, things had been different. Actually being in a fight against monsters wanting to take over the world was nowhere near as terrifying as watching his friends fight them. And watching the fights on the news was worse… Seeing Adam and the others take those hits… Knowing that they could easily be hurt or worse…

Turning back to the door, he sighed again, telling himself that five minutes wasn't enough to worry about. His fear of what could have happened was ungrounded. Adam was _only _five minutes late and he _could_ take care of himself. At least, that's what he kept telling himself. But it was increasingly difficult to think of anything else. He knew how dangerous being a ranger was. The thought that Adam could be hurt though, or even –

That train of thought was abruptly cut off when Adam abruptly came running in, door bouncing off the wall. He was slightly out of breath as he quickly scanned the room. Spotting Rocky, he hurried over.

"Sorry I'm late, Rocky. We had some… business that had to be taken care of," Adam explained in a nervous rush as soon as he stood before Rocky.

It was all Rocky could do to keep from laughing in the face of Adam's nervousness. It was nice to know he wasn't the only one who felt butterflies in his stomach when he was around the other. Plus… truth be told, at the moment he thought Adam looked even more adorable than normal. The Korean teenager was panting lightly, shoulder-length curly black hair in slight disarray, dark almond eyes wide with uncertainty as he fiddled with the hem of his dark green shirt. God, he loved Adam.

Deciding to spare Adam any embarrassment, Rocky flashed Adam an understanding smile. "It's okay. I sort of figured it was something like that." Standing up, he couldn't quite suppress his wince as pain shot up his stiff spine.

Concern flickered across Adam's face. "You okay?" he asked quietly.

"I'm fine," the other teenager quickly assured him as he slowly straightened. "A little stiff but other than that…" He shrugged off-handedly before he started towards the door. "Come on. If we don't go now we'll miss the previews before the movies."

"You are the only person I know who cannot stand to miss the previews."

"Of course I love the previews. How else would I know what movies I want to see when they come out?" Rocky pointed out, his logic making perfect sense in his own mind.

As they reached the door, Tommy, Kat, Tanya, and Justin walked in, reaffirming Rocky's suspicion that Adam had hurried ahead of the others. "Hey guys," Tommy said brightly.

"Rocky!" Justin exclaimed, rushing the former blue ranger. The twelve-year-old was so excited to see him that Rocky couldn't bring himself to pull away, despite the pain that shot up his lower back at the over-enthusiastic hug.

"So… Are you guys still going to the movies?" Kat asked, her innocent voice belied by the smirk on her pretty face.

"Yes," Rocky sighed, wondering what exactly she thought they were going to do there. It wasn't like they were sneaking off to some hotel or back alleyway. Hell, they weren't even going to either of their houses. They were just going to the movies, and since Kat didn't know about the "Incident" from their sophomore year, she had no reason to suspect they would do anything in a public place.

Justin, blessedly oblivious to what was really going on, spoke up. "What movie are you guys going to see?"

"One we're going to be late to if we don't leave now," Rocky answered, taking hold of his shy boyfriend's arm and tugging him along with him. "Come on."

Adam suppressed a smirk. He loved his friends and all – so did Rocky – but they were getting just a little _too_ much enjoyment from watching the two of them together.

"Have fun," Tanya called as they began to cross the parking lot.

"Be careful," Tommy added, trying to not to sound too amused at what was going on.

"Just don't get yourselves kicked out," Kat put in, not even bothering to attempt to hide her amusement. She couldn't help it. They were just so _cute_ together…

Rocky sighed, shaking his head as he approached his truck. Honestly! Was that really necessary?

As the two teenagers reached Rocky's truck, Adam slipped around in front of him, cutting him off. Rocky had a pretty good feeling he knew what Adam wanted, but decided to play the part of the clueless boyfriend instead. He was pretty good at that one…

Stepping forward, Rocky gently wrapped his arms around Adam's waist, pulling him into a hug. The Korean boy seemed to practically melt into his embrace and Rocky couldn't help but sigh happily. Without consciously realizing what he was doing, he tightened him grip on the smaller teenager.

To his surprise, Adam stiffened and pulled away from him with a barely auditable hiss. When he saw the hurt look that quickly flashed through Rocky's eyes, he quickly jumped in an attempt to reassure the other boy.

"No! It's not you or anything… I'm just a little sore…"

If there had been anyone else around, anyone at all, Rocky wouldn't have done it, but since they were alone in the parking lot and out of sight of the people inside… Carefully, Rocky hooked his fingers under Adam's shirt and pulled up, just enough for him to get a good look at the dark bruises that were already beginning to form over Adam's ribs and abdomen.

He sighed, shaking his head as he released the shirt, letting it fall back into place. "Those look pretty bad. You going to be okay?" He met Adam's dark eyes, allowing his concern to show through.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. We've all had worse. I'm just going to be sore for a couple of days," Adam answered. He smiled shyly, his dark eyes taking on a decidedly innocent look. "Of course, I think I'll feel _better_ once we're at the movie theater."

The former blue ranger blinked once in absolute shock before he broke out laughing. "God, I _knew_ there was a reason I loved you," he said with a grin. There was no doubt about it. Adam had been hanging out with him for _way_ too long. He had succeeded in corrupting him.

Finally.

Reaching for the door of his truck, Rocky was slightly surprised when Adam didn't move. The Korean teenager just stood there, left hand on a hip right hand out, waiting.

"What?" Rocky asked in confusion.

With a sigh, Adam reached forward and, before Rocky had a chance to react, pulled the keys from his pocket. "I'm driving. Get in the other side."

"Hey, it's my truck!" Rocky protested.

"Tough. I don't think you should be driving, so deal with it." To lessen the sting of his words, the smaller teenager leaned forward and, rising up onto his toes, kissed Rocky gently on his lips.

"No fair using that to end your argument," Rocky murmured playfully. He really didn't mind letting Adam drive, but there was no way he was going to let him get away with using a kiss to end his argument. Leaning down, he kissed Adam on the forehead to emphasize his size advantage on the other boy.

Adam smiled slightly. "Come on. We don't want to miss the movie."

* * *

Driving home, Rocky couldn't help but smile. They had been lucky; Divatox had failed to send down another monster so they had managed to see the entire movie, something practically unheard of since they had first become rangers. In fact… he was fairly sure the last time he'd managed to sit through an entire movie without it being interrupted by a monster attack was two years ago, during the "Incident."

As he pulled up in front of Adam's house, he shifted the truck into park and let the engine idle. Glancing over at Adam, he reached over and gently took his hand. Without any conscious thought, he found their fingers intertwining.

"Have you called Aisha yet to tell her…? About us, I mean?" Adam asked quietly, eyes on their joined hands.

"Not yet," Rocky admitted. "I'm not sure I want to hear her inevitable "I knew it! I told you so!" speech quite yet." He smiled slightly and shook his head. "If she _was_ here, we'd probably have already heard it three times by now."

Rocky almost didn't notice the way Adam's eyes clouded at that, but there was no missing the almost despondent tone in his voice as he said, "_If_ she was here…"

Frowning, Rocky cocked his head, watching Adam in vague confusion. "What's wrong, Adam?" When the other boy didn't answer, Rocky squeezed his hand gently to get his attention. "Why is this suddenly bothering you again? I mean… She's been in Africa for more than a year now. Yeah, I miss her too, but you know she loves what she's doing…"

"I _know_ that…" Adam said, voice sounding alarmingly miserable. "She's gone and not coming back…We're probably not going to see her again. We're graduating… We're going to leave…" He slowly grew quieter as he continued, until the last part was barely even auditable.

It actually took Rocky several moments to catch what Adam had said but even a few additional moments couldn't help him understand what had Adam so upset. "Wait, what? You think that –"

"Rocky, we're graduating!" Adam stared at him as if he couldn't figure out why Rocky wasn't as upset as he was. "Graduating! Meaning we're going to be out of school, everyone's going to be leaving, going somewhere else… Kat's going to New York, Tanya's going to L.A., Tommy's going to be… who knows where with his racing… And you and I…" He trailed off at that, looking away in an attempt to hide the anguish he knew was showing through in his eyes.

Rocky blinked once as he suddenly realized exactly what was bothering Adam. He hadn't even thought about what graduating was going to mean… For some reason, the inevitable separation had never even occurred to him. He'd been so thrilled about getting out of school and having Adam as a boyfriend… and so worried about having put Justin in danger by making him a ranger and Adam being a ranger without him there to back him up… that everything else had pretty much slipped his mind.

"A… Adam… I didn't… I didn't even think about…" Rocky stammered uncertainly, unsure of how to comfort Adam. "I mean… you … none of you guys can leave as long as you're rangers, right? So we've still got time… We can figure something out…" Yet even as he said it, he knew that the extra time given to them wouldn't seem like enough. The more time they got, the more having to go their separate ways would hurt…

"Time…?" Adam asked, voice showing exactly what he thought of that. "We're graduating tomorrow!"

Rocky glanced away from Adam, unable to meet his eyes, because, really, there was nothing he could say that could make things better. Nothing at all…

* * *

The Next Day

"Come on. We can change at my house," Rocky said, parking his truck in the driveway and jumping out. "I promised the others we'd meet them at Tommy's house in thirty minutes."

"Hey, where'd your parents go? Didn't they manage to get out of the parking lot before us?" Adam asked as he followed Rocky into the house.

Rocky turned to grin at Adam, "Yeah, but they left straight for the beach. They went on vacation after Bobby and Christina graduated so they wanted to continue the tradition. Kind of a "Congradulations! We got another kid through high school!" trip."

"What about your brothers and sisters?"

A short laugh escaped Rocky. "Yeah, right. Do you honestly think my parents would trust me to watch _all_ my younger brothers and sisters? Maybe the five oldest ones, but not Javy and Maria."

Adam smiled at Rocky, "They're only a couple of three-years-olds. They can't be that bad."

"That coming from an only child," Rocky teased. "They're twins and they're toddlers. That's about as scary as it gets." He shook his head ruefully as the two of them started up the stairs. "The only ones that are staying here are me, Ricky, and Elena." As they reached the top of the stairs, Rocky waved Adam towards his room. "I'm going to check on Ricky and Elena real quick. I'll be back in a second."

"Ricky?" he called, glancing into his brother's room. He sighed upon finding it empty. There was no telling where that boy had run off to…

There was no doubt about where Elena was though. He could here the loud country music drifting through the hall from her room. He honestly couldn't say which of her tapes it was, because he couldn't make out the words

He walked up to the door of her room, pausing outside of her room as he was finally able to make out the words.

_-Life is a rainbow, it's a spring snow,  
It's the mornin' dew.  
An' I don't wanna waste another minute,  
Without you._

_I'm gonna bring home a dozen roses,  
An' pour us a glass of wine.  
An' I'm gonna put on a little music,  
An' turn down the lights.  
An' I'm gonna wrap my arms around you,  
An' rock you all through the night,  
An' I'm gonna love you,  
Like it's the last day of my life. -  
_

He shook his head. That was more than minorly creepy. Knocking on her shut down, he yelled loudly, "Elena! Open the door!"

Abruptly the music cut off and his little sister opened the door. The fifteen-year-old girl stood there, hands on her hips. "What?" she asked, sounding slightly indignant.

Glancing past her into her room, he was surprised to see that she had a backpack out, looking like she was packing. "Where do you think you're going?"

She stared at him as if she thought he was a moron. "I'm spending the night at Gina's house. Duh. Mom told you last night, remember? Weren't you paying attention?"

Honestly, he hadn't been. Obviously. He'd been too busy thinking about Adam and what graduating was actually going to mean. "Oh… Where's Ricky?"

Elena sighed, "He's spending the night at Tyler's house."

"Oh…"

Elena turned around and grabbed her backpack. "Look, I've got to go." She grabbed the tape from her tape player and shoved it in her backpack. "I'm supposed to be at her house in ten minutes."

"Do you need a ride?" Rocky asked.

"It's only a block down the street. I _think_ I can make it, Rocky." She started out of her room, but, rather than going down the stairs, made a minor detour to his room. She stuck her head in the door. "Bye Adam. Keep Rocky out of trouble at the party," she instructed before practically skipping down the stairs and out the door.

Rocky watched her go. Sometimes he wondered about her… Really. How had she even known Adam was here? He hadn't told her. Granted, she knew about the party because they had talked about it yesterday, but Adam… Weird…

"Adam?" he asked, glancing into his room. Thank God he was decent, he could just imagine what would have happen if Elena had stuck her head in and he wasn't… Though he was very distracting…

The Korean teenager was sitting on his bed, already in his jeans, but with his shirt half-forgotten in his hands. Rocky didn't mind the chance to take in the sight of Adam shirtless; that always made any day good.

"Adam?" he asked quietly, feeling a little sinking sensation in his stomach as he realized the look on Adam's face was practically the same one from the day before. "You gonna be okay?"

The other boy didn't react, just continued to sit there with a rather lost look on his face. It wasn't until Rocky gently kissed him that he was startled out of his dark thoughts.

Rocky couldn't help but smile slightly at the confused, slightly disoriented look on the younger boy's face. As those dark brown eyes met his, he made a split second decision. "We're not going to the party."

If anything, the confused look on Adam's face deepened. "Huh?"

A smirk flickered across Rocky's face as he plopped down, rather unceremoniously, next to Adam. "You're worried about the time we have left? Well, I intend to make full use of it. All of it."

Adam didn't get a chance to respond before Rocky had confiscated the use of his lips, putting them to _much_ better use. And honestly… What was there to say to that?

TBC

Wheeeeee. Okay, sorry, but it's like 1:45 in the morning here. I'm a little hyper.

Anyways, I hope you people enjoy chapter 1! Please review! It'd just make everything super!


	2. Can't Go Home

How ya'll folks doin' out there?

Ha! Told you people there'd be more than one chapter! I'm so proud of myself. My first Power Rangers non-one-shot! Go me!

Thanks to all you b-e-a-u-tiful people who reviewed for me. I love reviews. They just make the world seem that much brighter.

Azkaban Huntress – Awwww. Thanks! Glad you like it! Anyways, I hope you like this chapter too.

Sparxxa – Unfortunately, I'm probably just as bad in that aspect of friendship as their Kat. And I have tried to do the camera thing that I put in Burgers, Love, and Addiction… Except it was at his house and it didn't work 'cause it was too dark. Too bad! Yeah, nut it made my day to hear from you again. Glad you liked it! Enjoy this fresh, new chapter, straight from my computer to yours… Well, not quite…

CamFan4Ever - #grins like little child# Your enthusiastic response has me doing a little happy dance in my chair. See? Well, I suppose not… Well, I hope you have fun with this brand-spanking new chapter.

XRachX – Aww. #sniff# Cabin Fever is over? Now I'm gonna be bored… It really was a lovely fic. So cute! You know, it really stokes the ego when good authors like you review. Now if I could just get this big head out the door…

CrimsonsStorms – I'm glad you like. Hope this doesn't disappoint.

PernDragonrider – Ooooh, job hunting, what fun! (Note the sarcasm there) Awww, I'm one of your favorite writers? Well, don't I feel all warm and fuzzy inside? And don't worry, I sometimes have the same problems in regards to the male population. Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter and find some relief from reality for a little while. We all need that sometimes. Oh, and one other thing… COOL! Your name is Carla! So is mine! Except with a K. Sorry. Just thought that was neat. Anyways… yeah. I'm done now.

And for any and all errors I made with the Spanish, I'm sorry! I just finished taking Spanish 1 and 2 and we didn't get to sentences as complex as that. Or to those verbs. So I apologize for all mutilations of the language.

And so… On with the story!

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**Can't Go Back**

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**Chapter 2**

**Can't Go Home**

The rain was pouring down harder than it had in months, relieving the dry California soil. Lightning flashed, and the entire kitchen was momentarily white before it faded, followed by the window-rattling boom of thunder that accompanied it.

"Tonight it not a good night," Rocky's mother fretted, fussing over the twins, Javy and Maria. "I do not like it. Not tonight. Not with your papá being on call…"

Rocky glanced up at his mother as she cleaned their faces. "Don't worry about it, mamá. He'll be careful. He always is,"

Ricky, from his spot next to his older brother, nodded in agreement. "Yeah, mamá. It's not like Papá hasn't ever worked during a storm before."

Mrs. DeSanatos sighed as she sat down next to Rocky. She couldn't admit to her children that she'd had a bad feeling about today ever since she and her husband had returned from the beach. She hadn't been able to shake the feeling though and, while she desperately wanted to share her thoughts with Rocky, she was reluctant to break the happy mood from the day before. Rocky had just graduated; he didn't need to worry about something that could just possibly in her head.

The ringing doorbell caused the multiple conversations around the table to stop rather suddenly.

"Don't answer it," Rocky suggested, turning his attention back to his dinner. "Maybe they'll go away."

Shaking her head, Mrs. DeSanatos sat down close to her son. His solutions for things occasionally reminded her of things she would have done at his age…

Unfortunately though, whoever was at the door wasn't going away, as was proven when the doorbell continued ringing.

"I'll get it," Rocky's eight-year-old brother, Sam, volunteered, jumping up and racing to the door.

Rocky sighed, glancing over at his mother. "You know he's going to end up on the track team, don't you?"

She smiled fondly, but couldn't quite keep the chastisement from her voice. "At least track is safer than martial arts."

Rocky grimaced slightly at the not-so-subtle reminder of what had happened only a few weeks ago. His mother had been terrified upon hearing that her third eldest was in the hospital with a broken back, and the doctors telling her that there was a chance he would be paralyzed for the rest of his life hadn't helped to ease her fears. Fortunately, that had not come to pass, but he was still in a back brace and would be in physical therapy for several months.

Sam came back then, walking for the first time in probably a year, at least that Rocky could remember. "Uh, Rocky?" he began slowly, a far cry from his normally hyper, bouncing way of doing everything. "Adam's outside. He wants to talk to you."

For a split second, Rocky grinned at the mention of the Korean. But then… "Sam, why didn't you bring him in?"

The hesitation Sam showed made some part of Rocky _know_ something was wrong. "He, uh, looks like he's been standing in the rain for a few hours. And… he's crying. He's really upset about something."

Rocky was on his feet instantly and practically running out towards the door. If Adam was in tears then something was seriously wrong…

The feeling of unease in Mrs. DeSanatos's heart grew even stronger. Perhaps the bad feeling she'd had wasn't about the storm…

Despite what Sam had told him, Rocky was surprised by Adam's appearance. The eighteen-year-old was standing on the porch, absolutely soaked, green t-shirt plastered to his body, much like his jeans and dark curls. What made Rocky's heart clench though, were the tears running down his cheeks, the devastatingly pathetic look in his dark eyes, and the way the lithe body was shaking. Whatever was wrong, it had to be really bad. But first things first…

"Get in here, you idiot," he said, forcing himself to smile.

A visible shiver ran down Adam's spine. "I… I'm soaking wet, Rocky," he protested, teeth chattering from the cold of the rain.

Sighing, Rocky took hold of Adam's arm, mildly surprised by cold that greeted his fingers. He half-dragged the smaller teenager into the house, up the stairs, and into his room.

Adam finally managed to free himself of Rocky's grip and stopped in the middle of his room, confused and still dripping water into a small puddle on the floor, shivering helplessly.

Quickly going to his closet, Rocky shifted through his clothes until he found a pair of jeans he hadn't worn in a while due to the fact they were too small. Maybe they wouldn't be too big for the slimmer, Asian boy. He tossed the black jeans over his shoulder. "Here. Put these on."

Wandering over to his dresser, he went through his t-shirts, trying to find one Adam would wear. Most of his shirts were either red or blue, he noted wryly. Finally though, he found one that was mostly black, with only a blue eagle across it. He pulled it out and turned around.

Adam had already changed into Rocky's jeans, and, as Rocky had suspected, they were baggy on the boy's smaller frame. The Korean was distractedly running his fingers through his black curls, attempting to de-plaster them from his forehead. 'Yep,' Rocky thought to himself, 'Adam's really upset about something…'

"Here," he said, offering the t-shirt to the other boy. Adam took the proffered shirt and, after peeling off his clinging green shirt, slid on the other one.

"So… You want to tell me why you look like you went swimming in your clothes?" Rocky asked, standing, arms crossed in front of his boyfriend.

"It's been raining for three hours and sixteen minutes," Adam informed him, voice low. Rocky would have completely missed the comment had he not been waiting for it.

The soft spoken comment made Rocky almost do a double take. "Are you telling me you've been out in… this," he waved his hand towards the window, gesturing to make the point he couldn't verbalize, "since it started? Are you crazy?"

"At first, it wasn't raining," Adam pointed out, his voice carrying a tone that made Rocky shiver.

"What do you mean, at first?" Rocky asked, part of him dreading the answer.

Adam just shrugged and glanced away, but not before Rocky caught a glimpse of the tears that were threatening o well up again.

"Do I need to call your parents and tell them that you're okay?" he asked in concern. "How long have you been out anyways?"

"About five hours." Adam's voice wavered, almost hitching as he continued, "And… That's why I came… To tell you not to call."

He might not have been the brightest in their group of friends, but even as he said it, he knew he sounded stupid. "Huh?"

Normally, his occasional less-than-intelligent answers at least drew a smile from Adam, but this time, if anything, it just seemed to make the look of pain on Adam's face grow even deeper. "Don't call; you won't get me even if you do."

For a split second, Rocky was confused, then a spike of fear shot up his spine. "You're not moving, are you?" He instantly thought of Aisha in Africa and how the only thing that had made bearable had been the fact that Adam was still around. He knew that Adam probably be leaving for college as soon as he got the chance, but if he was leaving early though…

"I almost wish I was just moving."

"Huh? What do you…? Adam, I don't understand… What's going on and what does it have to do with you standing outside in the rain for three hours like a moron?" He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. "Why weren't you at home like a normal person?"

"Because I couldn't," Adam whispered, tears starting to roll down his cheeks again.

The Hispanic boy blinked in surprise, a small part of his heart starting to feel a worming bit of fear. "What do you mean, you couldn't? What's wrong? What happened?"

Adam shivered, this time, not from the cold. "I couldn't go home." His voice dropped so low that the next part came out as an unintelligible mumble.

A shaky smile appeared on Rocky's face. "Adam, you're mumbling. I thought we'd worked through this shyness thing."

Swallowing hard, Adam raised his voice, which wavered so much that he was still barely understandable. The only reason Rocky could make out what he was saying was because of the eleven years they'd been best friends. "My parents kicked me out of the house."

"What!" Rocky half-screeched in shock. "What do you mean, your parents kicked you out!"

By then, Adam had given up all attempts to control his tears.

Realizing that his outburst wasn't helping, Rocky forcibly reined his anger back in. "I mean, I've heard of parents kicking their forty-year-old kids out of the house, but… You _just_ graduated! That's insane!"

Adam was shaking so hard, tears running down his face, that Rocky found himself unable to help but pull Adam into a hug. "Hey," he whispered comfortingly, "It's okay. It'll be okay. I promise." He gently ran his hands in soothing motions over the smaller boy's back.

Strong arms wrapped around Rocky, trembling as Adam clung to him. To the Hispanic boy's surprise, the Korean buried his face in his neck. The words whispered were barely heard by Rocky, but they still made his heart clench and nearly stop. "They found out."

"What?" Rocky whispered in horror, pulling away from Adam, eyes growing huge with alarm.

"They found out," Adam whispered, still shaking. "About us. About last night… They found out."

And abruptly, Rocky's world seemed to fall apart around him. Everything simply seemed to crumble. Adam… his best friend since first grade… his boyfriend for the three weeks since he'd broken his back… had been kicked out of his house… because of him… Because of them.

Despite the overwhelming numbness that threatened to fill him, Rocky recognized that Adam needed comforting more than anything else at the moment.

"Oh God, Adam," he whispered, throwing his arms around the teenager before him. He drew him in tight, holding the Korean closely.

"I'm not even sure how they found out," Adam whispered, returning the embrace full force, trembling so hard that Rocky could feel the tremors.

"They didn't tell you?" Rocky asked, wondering where they'd made their mistake; where they'd left it open for anyone to figure out.

Adam shook his head, despite the fact that, if anything, he clung even more desperately to Rocky. "All… all they said was… that when they called Tommy's house, Kat told them… Told them we weren't there. They… they shouldn't have been able to figure _out_…"

Reaching up, Rocky gently ran his fingers through Adam's still damp curls. At a loss as for what to say, he simply murmured, "It'll be okay. We'll figure something out…"

"But what if they call here?" Adam whispered miserably. "What if they get you… in trouble with _your_ parents?"

Rocky shut his eyes, glad Adam was in his arms and therefore couldn't see his face. "If that happens… We'll deal with that if it comes to that."

Without even fully realizing what he was doing, Rocky found himself slipping into Spanish. It was what his mother had always done when he or one of his siblings was upset, so he didn't even notice when it happened.

"Está bien. Yo no los permito hacer nada dañar a te. Yo prometo," He whispered, knowing that, though Adam couldn't understand him, the words still had the desired effect. Slowly, Adam relaxed, until even Rocky felt the tense muscles loosen in his embrace. "Te amo," Rocky whispered, mouth so close to Adam's ear that his lips brushed over the skin there.

To his surprise, Adam pulled away from him, a sad smile on his face. "I know what that means…" He leaned forward and gently kissed Rocky. "…And I love you too."

That alone made Rocky smile for the first time since Adam had gotten there. Just hearing those words…

"Look Rocky," Adam started rather suddenly, backing away, eyes still fond, yet sad and distant at the same time, "I have to go. I have to find somewhere –"

"No way," Rocky protested instantly. He took a hold of Adam's arm and pulled him towards the door.

"Don't! Rocky, no!" Adam hissed, fighting against the bigger boy. "I'm _not_ getting you in trouble too…"

Ignoring him, Rocky dragged him down the stairs, into the kitchen where the rest of his family was still eating.

"Uh, mamá… Could Adam stay here for dinner?" Rocky asked almost uncertainly, hand still closed around the other's wrist.

Mrs. DeSanatos glanced up, smiling gently at the shy Korean. "Of course. Adam, you know you're always welcome here." She didn't comment on the obvious signs that he'd been crying, but it still made her heart go out to the boy.

Gently, Rocky pushed Adam towards his chair, forcing the younger teenager into his spot between Ricky and his mother. Adam, for his part, did a fair job of protesting what was happening, insisting that the last thing he wanted was to impose.

"Look Adam, I already ate. And mamá's still cooking more than enough food for twelve, much less ten," Rocky couldn't keep the playfully fond tone out of his voice, but he managed to keep it from showing in his eyes by instead glancing at his mother with a gently teasing grin.

Unable to let that side without responding in kind, Mrs. DeSanatos added, "Adam, we have plenty, despite the fact that Rocky has out-eaten an entire third world country."

Rocky sighed heavily. His appetite was the source of many jokes among his family and friends… he blamed it on being a ranger for almost three years. Surely that affected the metabolism at least somewhat…

Adam glanced over his shoulder, grinning at him. At least someone found it funny.

Moving closer to his mother, Rocky almost absently put a hand on her shoulder. Some part of him _knew_… Felt that he had to, but… He was unsure of how to go about doing it. He _really_ wasn't ready… Not yet… But there was no other choice… Not that he could see... "Hey mamá, could I talk to you?"

The reaction was instant. Nine pairs of eyes turned towards him, eight in curiosity and one in abject horror. Mrs. DeSanatos silently tried to gage what was going through her son's mind. He seemed serious, which in itself was unusual.

"Of course, Rocky," she told her son, rising to her feet. "Come in the living room."

As she left, Rocky hesitated behind Adam's chair. Taking a deep breath, pointedly ignoring the terrified look in Adam's eyes, Rocky subtly pressed his hand comfortingly against the small of the other's back before leaving after his mother, refusing to left him know that he was just as scared.

Carefully, he shut the door behind him; it was hard enough to tell his mother this, telling his younger siblings was something he just didn't need right now.

"Rocky, is something wrong?" his mother asked worriedly. The only other time she'd seen him like this was when he was in the hospital for his back. He just seemed so serious… "Does this have to do with Adam?"

"Kinda…" Rocky began. "Mamá, could Adam stay here… for awhile?"

"Adam's always welcome to stay here. You know that, as long as you ask…"

Rocky sighed heavily, "I didn't mean for just tonight… I meant… indefinitely." Swallowing hard, he refused to meet his mother's eyes. "His parents kicked him out of the house."

Eyes widening, his mother gasped quietly. "What? Why!" Adam's mother and father had never struck her to be the sort of people who would do something of that nature to their only son for no reason… But Adam was such a good kid… What reason could he have given them that could possibly validate this…

Steeling himself, Rocky prepared himself for something he'd never planned to say to his parents… At least not for a _long_ time… But Adam had lost so much because of him… He had to do this… If he backed down now… if he chickened out now… he wouldn't be able to live with himself… Not after what he felt he'd cost Adam… If he couldn't bring himself to put himself on the line to lose what Adam had… It wouldn't be fair.

"Because… They found out that we're dating…"

Mrs. DeSanatos stared. What had her son just said? Surely she had misunderstood… but no, he had been very articulate, being extremely careful so his mother _couldn't_ have confused what he said for anything else… But how… Since when…

Rocky's face was red and he was stammering slightly as he desperately tried to explain something he couldn't really find the words for… "Mamá… I know you're probably mad now… But –"

"How long?" Finally finding her voice, Mrs. DeSanatos interrupted her son, forcing the words out.

"Almost a month… Three weeks… Right after I broke my back…"

Mrs. DeSanatos remembered how depressed Rocky had been at first, when the doctors had still been talking about the possibility of him being permanently paralyzed. She also recalled the terrified look on Adam's face… That had been the first thing she had seen upon rushing into the hospital… Seeing that look in those expressive young eyes had scared her. A lot…

But she also remembered a rather sudden turning point in both their moods. Up until now, she'd been unable to figure out what had caused such a dramatic mood shift in both boys…

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

Rocky was surprised to hear the hurt tone in his mother's voice. He'd expected anger or disgust… but not that. It almost hurt worse than the others could have. Almost…

"I… I was afraid…" Rocky admitted quietly. "I thought…"

Mrs. DeSanatos sighed and reached forward, pulling her son close. "You are my baby. Nothing will _ever_ change that. Or how much I love you."

The eighteen-year-old's face brightened in such a way that it made heart swell inside her, letting her know that what she was doing… accepting her son… was the right thing.

"I love you too, mamá." The smile on his face faded slightly. "But… About Adam…"

Almost as if saying the name had summoned him, Adam cracked the door to the living room and slipped in. His eyes were huge with uncertainty and filled with fear. As he shut the door behind him, the Korean swallowed hard, eyes darting from Rocky to his mother.

"Mrs. DeSanatos," he began, tone almost begging, making him sound so young that it made every one of her motherly instincts scream for her to hold him. "Please… please, don't be mad at Rocky… He didn't –"

Her son cut Adam off with a gentle laugh. "Hate to break it to you Adam, but you're a little late."

Adam's already large, almond eyes grew even wider, fear turning to near terror. He turned towards his best friend's mother in a near panic. "Please, Mrs. DeSanatos… _Please_… I don't care about what you think of me… Just _please_… Rocky didn't do… He doesn't deserve…"

Realizing that Adam had misinterpreted what he had said, Rocky stopped laughing to himself and moved to put his arms around his clearly distraught boyfriend, stopping his stammering pleading. He was surprised to feel that Adam was flat-out shaking in pent-up panic and fear.

"Whoa, Adam, chill! It's okay… It's okay…"

Mrs. DeSanatos watched the two boys, surprised to find that, despite what she earlier would have thought, her heart went out to her son and Adam. The Korean was so distressed by the prospect of Rocky getting in trouble and Rocky was so disturbed by the visible distress on the younger boy's face… And seeing her son's attempts to comforting Adam… She found herself surprised she hadn't seen or even suspected anything sooner.

"Adam? Adam, it's okay," Rocky continued, voice remaining in a low, soothing tone. He gently stroked the Korean's dark curls in an attempt to calm him. "Adam, come on. It's okay. My mom's okay with it. She said you could stay here. It's gonna be okay…"

Slowly, the shaking died down; giving way to occasional tremors, but the scared look in those eyes remained. The Korean attempted to fully relax but he found it impossible, even with Rocky gently holding him close. He had been holding in such fear and other emotions for almost six hours now that, once released, it was impossible to simply rein them back in.

Mrs. DeSanatos, unable to ignore her screaming instincts, moved forward to embrace both teenagers. "Adam, my son is right. It will be okay. At least as far as this matter is concerned." She pulled away so she could meet his eyes. "And you are welcome to stay here."

Never moving from Rocky' embrace, Adam stared at her. "Wha-? Why would you do that for me?" He felt Rocky's arms tighten around his waist in an almost warning, and he forced himself to fight the urge to ask him what was wrong.

"Because… My son would not have it any other way," she offered. With an almost wry smile, she added, "Plus, after ten children, there's really not much of anything that will faze me for long."

Finally, Rocky released Adam and hugged his mother. "¡Gracias, mamá¡Gracias, gracias, gracias¡Te amo¡Gracias!" The words spilled out in a barely understandable rush. "¡Gracias!"

She held her son close. Despite some of her still remaining misgivings, she knew that the choice she had made was the only one that would allow her to keep her son. She wouldn't have been able to go through with anything that didn't.

The smile didn't leave Rocky's face even as he pulled away from his mother. Even Adam's feeble attempt to return the grin couldn't dispel his happiness, though he made a mental note to check on Adam again later.

"Though… there remains the question of sleeping arrangements for this situation…" Mrs. DeSanatos began. Here was the dilemma. With no spare bedrooms and a total of four bedrooms for eight children, she was at a loss of where to put him. Normally when he stayed over, he and Rocky slept in sleeping bags in Rocky's room – he was the only with his own room – but she didn't _quite_ feel comfortable putting him there now. And she _knew_ that poor Adam would feel uncomfortable sharing a room with Sam, Luis, and Ricky. Elena and Alicia would be happy to share their room… But submitting him to the two of them would be just as cruel as putting him with the toddlers, Maria and Javy.

Both Rocky and Adam looked appropriately embarrassed at that. While they _had_ spent the entire night together the night before when Rocky's parents had been at the beach, nothing more serious than some kissing and gentle caressing had occurred. That Rocky's mother was concerned about them going further than that while the rest of Rocky's family was there…

Mrs. DeSanatos caught the look on the two boy's faces and almost smiled. Judging by the embarrassed look on their faces, maybe there wouldn't be a problem. Yet. Besides… If she suddenly made then change their sleeping arrangement, her husband would wonder what was going on, and she wasn't quite yet ready to tell him about the two boys. She wasn't sure things wouldn't turn out the way they had with Adam's parents.

Finally, she sighed. "Adam, you'll be staying in Rocky's room, at least until I can find some better arrangements. I just want to make sure that you realize that –"

"Mamá, we won't do anything! We promise," Rocky quickly assured her. Adam nodded vigorously in agreement.

She smiled at the look on Adam's face. Adam had always been good for Rocky, hopefully it would continue that way.

"Mamá!" The voice of an upset, five-year-old girl interrupted before she could say anything else. "Luis spit in my drink!"

"No I didn't! Mamá, Alicia's lying!"

With a sigh, Mrs. DeSanatos turned. "Why don't you help him get settled in, okay Rocky? I've got yet another _crisis_ to deal with."

"It probably _was_ Luis," Rocky called after her, unable to stop his smile. His friends were right; his mother was the best!

Gently, he took hold of Adam's wrist. "Come on. You heard my mom."

* * *

Something was off. He could see it in Adam's eyes; there was something that was bothering him. "Adam?" he asked in concern, stopping in his gentle kisses to gaze down at the Korean he was half-draped on top of.

"Rocky… We promised your mom…" he gasped breathlessly, shivering slightly, but not from the cold of the dark room he was going to be sharing with Rocky.

"Since we're both still half-dressed we're not breaking our promise," Rocky replied dismissively. Despite his minor annoyance that Adam had deliberately ignored his question, Rocky couldn't help but gently brush his fingers across the flushed cheek. "But that's not the problem… Or not all of it, is it?"

Adam looked away, dark eyes clouding slightly as he withdrew into himself.

Now duly concerned, Rocky gently hooked his fingers under Adam's chin, forcing him to meet his eyes. "Adam, what's wrong?" he pressed, voice wavering slightly in his apprehension. He braced his other arm against the bed underneath them, holding himself enough over Adam so that he could study his reactions.

"It's nothing," Adam quietly assured him. "It's… it's stupid." He lowered his eyes, knowing they gave too much away.

"Yet it's got you upset," Rocky observed. He released the younger boy's chin and gently brushed back a wayward strand of black curls. "Obviously something's wrong. What is it? You can tell me anything, you know that, right?"

"Please Rocky…" Adam's voice was strangely pleading. "I don't want… I don't to talk about it… Please…" Now free, he again looked away.

Rocky rolled off of Adam and sat up beside him, drawing his legs up underneath him, quietly waiting Adam out. He just stared, dark eyes full of every emotion that was swirling through him.

Slowly, almost reluctantly, Adam sat up as well, head down and hands in his lap, shaking lightly.

Resisting the urge to pull Adam into his arms, Rocky instead asked, voice low, "Is it your parents?" He was uncertain if he should have done what he had, but he didn't see any other way of broaching the subject.

Adam's shoulders dropped, only barely visible in the darkness, and Rocky had his answer.

"I'm sorry."

Slowly, Adam shook his head. "It's not… I mean it's kinda them, but…"

"But what?"

Rocky saw Adam sigh, almond-shaped eyes closing, shoulders slumping further. "It's me."

The Hispanic blinked; whatever he'd been expecting, it wasn't that. "Huh?"

"Nothing. Like I said, it's stupid…"

Cocking his head, Rocky tried to figure out what could possibly be wrong. Adam ha implied that it had to do with his parents, which really wasn't that big of a surprise. He knew he'd be more than just upset if his mother had reacted the way Adam's parents had! Rocky's mother… Well, she had been okay with it – strangely supportive, even – so that couldn't be it… Or maybe that was exactly it. In a rare moment of insight, he asked, "You're… jealous… Aren't you?"

Adam's almost black eyes grew huge as he watched Rocky, looking horrified that his feelings had been worded in that manner. But he didn't try to deny it; he just started stammering in a desperate attempt to reassure Rocky.

"I swear, Rocky… I'm so… _so_ glad that your mom was okay with us… I… I wouldn't want what happened with my parents to _ever_ happen to you… I… I just…"

"You just wish your parents had reacted the way my mom did," Rocky clarified.

Adam nodded, looking absolutely miserable. Rocky couldn't help but sigh. At least he understood why Adam had been so withdrawn; he knew he'd have probably been ten times worse if it had happened to him. Adam had felt bad for being jealous of Rocky. That, hopefully, he could fix.

Scooting closer to Adam, Rocky reached forward, tenderly brushing his knuckles over the Korean's cheek. "Adam, you can't blame yourself for being a little jealous. You may be a ranger, but you're still only human. You're _allowed_ to feel jealous, especially with the crap that's happened today. Hell, I think I be more concerned if you weren't."

Those sad eyes turned to meet his. "So… You're not mad at me?"

Rocky actually had to laugh at that. "With your whipped-puppy look? I couldn't stay mad at you if I wanted. I swear, Kat always complains about Tommy, but he's got nothing on you."

The actual beginnings of a smile flickered across Adam's face. "Really?"

Wrapping his arms around Adam, he leaned back, dragging the smaller boy on top of him. "Yes, really, you dope," he answered, trying hard to contain his laughter. There was no way Adam couldn't feel his shaking as he suppressed his mirth though, and the younger boy swatted him playfully on the arm in mild irritation. Holding the olive-skinned boy close so as to attempt to avoid any further bodily harm, Rocky took advantage of the opportunity to kiss his way to Adam's neck, breathing in the scent that was becoming sweetly familiar.

Adam sucked in his breath sharply as Rocky brushed over an extremely sensitive spot on his neck and he braced both hands on Rocky shoulders.

"Well, this seems rather familiar," Rocky said playfully, smiling against Adam's throat. "Last time end in a rather disappointing fashion, so let's see if this time –"

"This time is going to end exactly the same," Adam forced himself to say, pushing himself off of Rocky. "Seeing as how I can't back to my home, I _really_ don't want us to get kicked out of yours."

Rocky sighed in mock exasperation and dejection. "Fine…" Then his smile turned almost wicked and his eyes gleamed. "Guess we'll just have to work on finding an apartment…"

TBC

_Translations_

_Está bien. Yo no los permito hacer nada dañar a te. Yo prometo._ – It's okay. I won't allow them to do anything to hurt you. I promise.

_Te amo._ – I love you.

_¡Gracias, mamá¡Gracias, gracias, gracias¡Te amo¡Gracias¡Gracias!_ – Thank you, mamá! Thank you, thank you thank you! I love you! Thank you! Thank you! (Hopefully, by now you all know the Spanish word for thank you.)

And yes, I know I've been picking on Adam a lot these last two chapters. Next, it's Rocky's turn. Fun!

See you guys later!


	3. Deeper Than Blood

Wow. Can you say, procrastination? Oh, yes, I'm so smart. Of course starting college will give me _more_ time to write than over the summer. See my screwed up train of thought here?

Anyway, sorry this part took so long to get out. I actually had it all written out before, but I ended up totally redoing it. I hope you all like it.

The Spanish in this chapter is just written in English, it'd take too long to translate, but I think you guys can figure out what's supposed to be in Spanish. And I know absolutely no Korean, so I'm having to trust my friend on this one. Hopefully it's right, if not please let me know so I can fix it.

Thanks so much for each of you that reviewed. You guys are what make me keep posting. I'd loose interest way too fast if it weren't for you.

Please tell me what you think of this chapter. It feels to me like it has a different tone than the others and I want to know what you think.

BTW, one chapter left to go. Yay!

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**Can't Go Back**

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**Chapter 3**

**Deeper Than Blood**

The yelling was coming from down the hall. It was loud, angry, and in Spanish. That alone would have told Rocky that both of his parents were furious. Normally, Spanish was reserved for comfort – when one of the younger children woke in the middle of the night from a scary dream, or when placing a band-aid on a scraped knee – so when either of his parents slipped into Spanish while they were yelling, it generally signaled that all hell had broken loose. The last time Rocky could remember it happening was when his older sister Christina had accidently left Luis at the skating rink for three hours when he was nine years old. That had been three years ago; he hadn't heard such shouting since. At the time, he'd been secretly thrilled that it wasn't him his mother was yelling at. This time though…

While his parents may have been yelling at each other, the simple fact that the argument was _about_ him made him sick inside. But there was nothing he could do; he couldn't even block out the noise.

As he lay in his bed, staring at the shadows playing across his ceiling, he felt his throat tightening with each angry accusation being flung back and forth between his mother and father. It had been going on for two and a half hours now. As soon as they thought all of their children were asleep, they had started at it. He had heard every single thing being said.

And it was _his_ fault. All because he couldn't control himself. Had he been in more control of his hormones, then he wouldn't have kissed Adam at that concert – which, to be fair, had been the first time away they had had in three weeks – and his older brother Bobby would never have accidently seen them. He hadn't even known his brother was in town… But Bobby had seen. He had gone home – by that time the shock had worn down to furious disgust – and had angrily confronted his parents, demanding to know if they had known about their third child's sexual preferences.

Things had completely blown up after that. His mother had angrily defended Rocky from his older brother's verbal abuse, which had prompted his father to explode, both for having defended Rocky and for knowing and keeping it from him in the first place. Things still hadn't calmed down. Fortunately, both his parents had kept the presence of mind to not let his other siblings know what was going on. With the way things were going, Rocky was pretty sure if someone told any of his other brothers or sisters, he'd have a complete meltdown. As if he hadn't already…

"So you just let _him_ stay here?! What were you _thinking_, Adela?"

"I was _thinking_ that he's just a child with nowhere else to go," Rocky's mother was practically growling out the words, her Spanish sounding almost feral in that tone. "You are _not_ going to kick him out, Alejandro."

"Adam is not staying here! For all we know, this is _his_ fault! I'm not letting him stay so he can corrupt the rest of my children!!"

The eighteen-year-old felt a twitch against his stomach. He glanced down in time to see Adam's hand relax. Cautiously, the former blue ranger glanced at his boyfriend, trying to gage whether or not the yelling had woken him. He wasn't sure how it hadn't, but he was thankful for it. While Adam may not understand Spanish, there was no way he wouldn't understand what they were fighting _about_.

"Damn it, how can you say that? That boy did _nothing_ but fall in love. Rocky is –ˮ

"_Don't_ get me started, Adela. Rocky's at fault too. Maybe if we can talk to Father Zogbhy and get this fixed –ˮ

"There is _nothing_ wrong with our son! Don't you _dare_ even imply that there is!"

"Adela, –ˮ

"Don't _Adela_ me, Alejandro!"

He couldn't take it anymore. As tears began to form in the young Hispanic's eyes, he carefully wiggled his way out from under his sleeping boyfriend – after everything, they had allowed themselves the comfort of feeling the other's body next to theirs, knowing full well that they no longer had anything to hide and knowing that this might be the last time in a long time they had this chance. Sliding out from Adam's arm from around his waist, he climbed out of his bed, grabbed a shirt from the floor, and ran. Out of his room, out of his house, and out of earshot of his swearing father.

* * *

Sighing heavily, Adam opened his eyes. Rocky was gone. He had been afraid of that.

Sitting up, he stared out the door, wondering what exactly he should do. He had thought it would be better if he pretended to be asleep; if it were him, he would have died of mortification if he thought Rocky had overheard _his_ parents – or whatever he was supposed to call them now – in this sort of argument. True, he didn't fully understand what was being said, but there was only thing they could be fighting over. It didn't help that he had heard his name being brought up several times.

Ultimately though, there was only one thing he could do. He wasn't going to leave Rocky by himself. The older boy had been there for him, it was high time he did something to make things even between the two of them.

Following Rocky's example, he picked a shirt up off the ground, not sure whether or not it was his or Rocky's, and followed his distressed boyfriend out of the house.

* * *

Adam stopped rather abruptly as he walked out the back down, the sight of Rocky's hunched form freezing him momentarily. As far as he could recall, he had never seen Rocky this miserable. Not even when he'd been in the hospital almost two months ago, though that probably had something to do with the morphine he'd been on.

Approaching silently, the Korean sat down next to Rocky, not speaking, not moving. Nothing except waiting for the older teenager to notice his presence, no matter how long it took.

He wasn't sure how long it took for Rocky to notice him – he didn't bother to look at his watch – but when the Hispanic finally did, he was ready. Teary brown eyes glanced over at him and before Rocky could say anything, Adam had pulled him into a close hug. That was all it really took. The older boy put his arms around the slim Asian and buried his face in his neck, silent tears falling down his cheeks. The shudders that ran through him were strong enough that even Adam could feel them, though he didn't say anything about it. The green ranger simply held his former teammate.

When Rocky finally felt his sobs begin to subside, he took several deep breathes before placing a grateful kiss to the skin in front of him. Pulling away, he forced on a smile and asked in a halting voice, "I don't suppose you were lucky enough to not hear the yelling, were you?"

That smile was so obviously forced, the question phrased in a way to try to make light of the situation, that it about broke Adam's heart. Sadly, he put on a smile just as forced as Rocky's. "Afraid not."

Sighing miserably, Rocky put his head on Adam's shoulder, despite the height difference. "I guess… After the way mamá reacted, I just… I thought the rest of my family would be okay with it. And I never thought… I never thought that Bobby would…" He trailed off helplessly.

Adam knew how close Rocky had been to Bobby. He could only imagine how that felt. And of course, it hadn't helped that rather than just hating them on his own, Bobby had told Rocky's father. "I'm so sorry, Rocky."

Blinking slowly, the Hispanic stared into the Korean's dark, almond eyes in confusion. "What are you sorry for? There is no way this is your fault, you know that, right?"

"I'm sorry this had to happen to you. I never wanted you to feel like I did." Somewhere, in the back of his mind, Adam was also silently asking for forgiveness for ever feeling jealous of the reaction of Rocky's mother, as if the mere vague thought had somehow caused this to happen. He swallowed hard. "If I could change what happened…"

He didn't have to finish. Rocky understood. He had been thinking the same thing when Adam's parents had kicked him out of the house, then again a few days later, when he had gotten the letter informing him, in a polite, distant legal manner, that he had been disowned. "What are we supposed to do now?" he wondered, unintentionally voicing the worries spinning through his mind.

Rocky was asking _him_? Rocky was always the one reassuring him. Always. He wasn't sure how to respond to the sudden role reversal. For several long minutes, Adam didn't answer, searching for the right thing to say. He didn't know what the right answer was, but he was determined to say the comforting one. "Well, you wanted an apartment, anyway…"

The actual beginnings of a smile flickered across Rocky's lips at that, and that alone was enough to make Adam think that maybe he really could help Rocky. Or at the very least, distract him. "But…" Rocky suddenly seemed uncertain, "What about college?" He wasn't going to say it, but no matter what job he had, there was no way he'd be able to pay rent by himself.

Adam glanced down. "I decided to go to AGU, so I wouldn't have to quit the stunt show, but… I know you're going to UCLA. We could at least make this work until then. After that –ˮ

"Wait, what do you mean, you're going to AGU, I thought you were looking at that one school in Oregon?" Rocky demanded, his eyes lighting up oddly.

"I… I was but, I decided I really liked the stunt show, so… I picked AGU instead. I mean, I know it doesn't help our current situation, since you're going to L.A., but…"

"I turned UCLA down," Rocky interrupted in a rush. For the first time that night there was a smile, a real smile, on his face. "I thought you knew. Jason's been telling everyone." He waited for Adam to meet his eyes. "Since Tommy's racing now, we decided to go in together and open a martial arts center here in Angel Grove. I'm not going anywhere."

Adam's eyes were wide. "You're… not? You… You're staying here in Angel Grove?" Giddiness strong enough to override his earlier sadness began to rush through him. He knew that it was showing on his face.

"You mean, you got me worried about this whole "we're not going to be able to see each other" thing, and we're both going to be here?" Rocky asked. He couldn't help it. It was too much.

Looking appropriately embarrassed at that, Adam stammered, "Well, I was… I thought you… I didn't know…"

"So, is the offer to share an apartment still up? If you think you can stand to live with me any longer, that is?" Rocky interrupted. The smile on his face when he started became a little less pronounced as he finished though, uncertainty starting to get the better of him.

"I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't serious." It was his tone of voice, more than anything that told the older boy that he was serious. Reaching out, the Korean pulled Rocky into a soft kiss, knowing that Rocky's parents were too busy arguing to come out looking for them. Or at least hoping. The last thing they needed was for Rocky's father to catch them doing anything that could even be considered homosexual.

Obviously, Rocky didn't care either, because he tangled his fingers through Adam's curls, holding him close. When he finally broke the kiss, his face was slightly flushed and he couldn't help his slightly goofy grin. "Want to go?"

"Rocky, it's…" the green ranger glanced at his watch, "three a.m. Now is not the time to go apartment shopping."

To his surprise, the smile disappeared from Rocky's face immediately. "I don't want to go back in there." He sent Adam a pleading look. "I can't listen to them fight over… us. Not anymore." Looking embarrassed, he asked quietly, "Can we just stay out here tonight?" He glanced up at the clear sky, at the stars. "Please?"

"Are you going to be okay if your dad comes out in the morning and sees us?" He had to ask.

At first there was no verbal answer, only Rocky curling up into Adam. "As long as you stay with me."

And there was really nothing he could say to that. He wasn't going to leave; both he and Rocky knew that.

It took several minutes of wiggling and shifting for them to find themselves remotely comfortable on Rocky's back porch. The wood was cold in the California night and, while Rocky certainly wasn't complaining about being able to use Adam as a pillow, his head resting on the Asian's chest as the rest of his curled around that familiar body, Adam wasn't thrilled to be lying out on the cold surface. At the moment though, there was nowhere else he'd rather be.

"Te amo, Adam" The words were softly spoken, but perfectly clear beneath the quiet blanket of stars.

"Salaha." Adam had never said those words in that language before. Not even to his parents. Always English. Rocky knew that, and it made him smile with a warmth that could have lit the entire California sky.

"Hey Adam." The voice was thoughtful, in a sleepy sort of way.

"Hmm?"

"What do you think… about getting a cat?"

TBC

Sparxxa – Poor Adam, indeed. Now for poor Rocky. You can just hug them both!

Furlings are Cats – Cause if we ran PR then it wouldn't be a kids show and they miss the sales from the cool toys the kids buy. Stupid corporate guys… Grumble.

PernDragonrider – Well, it's been a while, but I hope the job interview went well. Now as long as this chapter doesn't disappoint, everything will be okay.

CamFan4Ever – I have read your entire "Sparring" story. I love it. And I'm so glad you like my story. Ego boost, party of one.

MzDany - #gasp# Watch me fall over and die. I am a puddle of happiness. I really hope this chapter is worth your wait.

Allie351 – One more chapter. Hopefully I can keep your attention for that long.

Azkaban Huntress – I must say, that was one of my favorite line to write, so I'm glad you liked it too. It must have been "pick on the frog" day or something.

Sanquinedarkness666 – Hope you like this chapter, Abby. It's totally different from the one you read. Possibly cause that one's locked in my footlocker back at home…

Darkonda25 – Sorry for the delay. Hope you like!

TsubasaCaligrapher – Yay, I'm a favorite. #warm fuzzies# I hope this chapter lives up to the other ones.

PunkPinkPower - #faints# Hang on, let me pick myself up off the ground. There. Wow! Such high praise from you makes my whole day. I hope this makes yours.

Happymoose101 – Well, if I started you on slash on the right foot, I'll take that as a huge compliment. Hopefully, this will keep you in the slash mood. And I loved the long review. Made me happy, happy.

Leo Mike Inc lover – Thanks. Have fun with this one.

NekoAru - #dodges stuff aimed at Adam's parents# Whoa, good arm. Take 'em out. I'm done with them. #stands back and watches the carnage# Thanks so much for the review. Hope you like this chapter.

Well, I must go Chemistry homework calls.

Ta!


	4. Adoption Day

#sigh# Well, I was working on chapter four of Can't Go Back when I was inspired to write this. It's just a short little fic focusing on the introduction of a new character... Sort of... Depends on your definition of character... So no, this isn't chapter 4. This is like... Chapter 3.5. Which means this will still have one more chapter. GAH! I can't end this!

No, I don't own them. I wouldn't be keeping my fingers crossed for departmental scholarships if I did. I also do not own Meow Mix, the cat, or the annoying little jingle that get stuck in your head...

**Azkaban Huntress** - I hadn't thought of the sprinkler thing... That would have been good... And hopefully you'll like this chapter.

**Sanquinedarkness666** - Hope you like, Abby. I'll be sending you the real Chapter 4 to beta... Hopefully soon.

**NekoAru - **AH! Dangerous flying textbooks! As long as your aim is better than mine though, I should be okay... Hope you enjoy this little tidbit. I don't think my Chemistry teacher was too pleased that I wasn't paying attention...

**PernDragonrider** - Thanks for the words of protection for college. They've been helping. And I'm glad the different tone worked. I don't know why that one kept coming out sounding that way... Just wanted to be written that way, I guess... Anyway, I hope you like this kind of in between chapter.

**Buffyxenaman** - Here's 3.5. Enjoy! Go wild!

**CamFan4Ever** - Well, it's not the chapter I was expecting to post, but hopefully, this will hold you over until the new one gets up.

**Sparxxa** - To answer your question, the gang knows that Adam has been staying with Rocky, but they don't know why.They know it has something to do with them as a couple, but they don't know what actually happened. Hopefully this little bit is worth the excitement.

**Angel Spirit** - Sweet! I've been glomped!! There's only one response for that... #glomps back# I'm thrilled that chapter made you feel so much. That means I'm doing something right. Please enjoy this semi-bonus chapter that hit mit by surprise. Hopefully it lives up to expectations...

**----------------------  
Can't Go Back  
---------------------- **

Chapter 3.5

Adoption Day 

As he crept stealthily into their small apartment, Rocky glanced furtively around, reassuring himself that Adam wasn't there yet. Perfect. Gently, he loosened the defensive grip he had on the small bundle he was carrying before placing it on the grey chair in their small living room. Crouching down, he took a couple of seconds to further study his most recent addition to his and Adam's apartment.

Dark yellow-green eyes stared back at him, unblinking, scrutinizing the young Hispanic with the same intensity. A smile flickered across Rocky's face. He couldn't say _why_ the small, six-month old orange tabby had caught his eye over the other cats at the Humane Society, but he hadn't been able to control the instant bond he'd felt with this cat.

"You know, I'm not sure Adam will be thrilled to see you," the former blue ranger admitted to the cat. "I mean, yeah, he said I could get a cat, but he was probably thinking he'd get some say in it…" Granted, he hadn't intended to come home with a cat – he'd only gone to the Humane Society building to look – but after seeing this little ball of orange fluff he hadn't been able to risk someone else getting him before he could drag Adam back with him. He had _had_ to have _this_ cat.

The orange tabby meowed once, sounding regretful, as if he understood Rocky's concern.

"Well, I guess you'll just have to win him over, huh?"

Another meow.

"Don't worry, he's a big softie," Rocky confided to the cat. "It won't be hard for you to make him fall in love with you. Hell, he loves me. That means you're guaranteed… "

The Hispanic trailed off as he heard the sound of someone at the door. "He's home!" the eighteen-year old practically yelped. Lowering his voice, he hissed, "Okay, just stay quiet and don't move!" Spinning, he quickly sat in the chair, arms coming to rest against the chair's back, forming a little box with his body, effectively trapping the cat. He schooled his face into a mask of perfect innocence; nope, he wasn't hiding anything…

"Hey Rocky."

"Hey Adam," he called, not looking back at him. Couldn't let the cat escape… He had to _tell_ Adam, not just have him find out he'd gone ahead and gotten one…

"What are you doing?" the voice was closer than Rocky had expected and he almost jumped when Adam came around the chair to stand in front of him. The flinch caused the tabby to growl quietly, though Rocky actually felt the soft noise rather than heard it.

Managing to suppress any guilt, the older teenager was proud of himself for keeping his voice even when he spoke. "Nothing. Why do I have to be doing something?" Even the feel of the hidden cat swatting at his back didn't affect his tone.

Raising one eyebrow, Adam studied him dubiously, clearly not fully convinced. He knew Rocky too well; the other didn't just "do nothing". He was _always_ doing _something_. His boyfriend didn't have the self-control needed to just sit there…

"I am," the Hispanic protested, managing to sound slightly indignant. "Just chillin', you –" The last word came out as a startled yelp and this time he did jump out of the chair as a set of claws finally managed to catch him in the back through his shirt.

Adam simply watched in amusement, a small grin tugging at his lips as Rocky landed on the ground at his feet. His eyes then drifted up and he caught sight of a disgruntled looking cat perched on the chair like it was a throne. His grin threatened to grow even larger. "_Why_ were you sitting on a cat?"

"I wasn't sitting _on_ him," Rocky protested as he pushed himself back to his feet, "I was sitting _in front_ of him…"

"Yet you were surprised he clawed you?" Stepping forward and kneeling before the chair, he eyed the orange ball of fluff. "So… this is one you picked then?"

The older teenager looked taken aback. "You're… not mad at me for picking one without you?"

"You were the one who really wanted a cat. You know I'd have let you have whatever cat you wanted… Within reason, of course…" the Korean told him rather off-handedly. Reaching out, he gently stroked the soft fur between the cat's ears, further calming the feline. "Have you named him yet?"

"I was thinking…" There was no missing the almost-embarrassment in his voice. "Baxter…"

Again, Adam raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Been watching those Meow Mix commercials again, haven't you?"

The almost-embarrassment deepened into a downright abashed expression. "I can't help it. They just keep playing them…" the former blue ranger defended himself weakly.

Unable to stop himself from laughing, Adam stood and leaned forward, rising up on his toes to give the taller boy a kiss in consolation. "Yet for some reason I love you anyway…" he mused out loud with a chuckle.

Refusing to release Adam, Rocky pulled him back and onto a small couch they had. "I'll show you exactly _why_ you love me anyway," he growled playfully. "In celebration of _Baxter's_ adoption, of course…" Bracing his arms on either side of Adam he smirked down at the lithe Korean. Kissing Adam fiercely, he brushed his fingers back across the light olive cheek – the gentleness of that action contrasting sharply to their kiss – before it started lower, down the strong chest, towards blue jeans and –

Suddenly there was a mass of fur in Adam's lap, blocking his hand. A sharp yowl startled him into flinching away from the younger boy slightly.

"İAi, Dios mio!" Rocky groaned, letting himself flop backwards away from his boyfriend even as Adam started snickering despite everything. "I'm never going to get any. Ever!" he lamented loudly. "I finally get away from my family and now the _cat_ is taking their place… Dios mio…"

Baxter just meowed triumphantly from Adam's lap.

"Well, you _did_ say it was a celebration for him…"

TBC

Translation for the uninformed  
Ai Dios mio - Oh my God

Anyway, hope you all enjoy!! Please leave a review. As a starving college student, I live off of them...


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